Britain's biggest blue chips have ploughed through the mire of Brexit uncertainty to deliver record breaking dividends to investors in the past three months.

Capita Asset Services is predicting dividends of £90.6 billion – a 7 per cent increase on last year as the fall in the pound and robust growth lifts profits in many sectors.

And while much of the credit for FTSE 100 giant's bumper payouts has been claimed by the fall in the pound increasing earnings once translated back into sterling, many more UK-focussed firms are also paying handsome amounts.

On the up: Investors are enjoying record payouts this year as the fall in the pound and robust growth lifts profits in many sectors

Capita's report found that dividends for the second quarter hit a record high of £33.3 billion – underpinned by a bumper payout from National Grid.

Twelve out of 17 sectors paid more during the second quarter compared to last year, with the largest dividends coming from financials.

Growth was particularly strong in the resurgent mining sector, while consumer goods and housebuilders also performed well.

Among the biggest payers were HSBC, Shell, and British American Tobacco.

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A large increase in oil dividends was put down to the fall in the pound as companies converted profits made abroad back into sterling.

But IT, airlines, media, healthcare, industrial goods and insurance all paid out less – with IT falling the most.

Justin Cooper, chief executive of Shareholder Solutions – part of Capita Asset Services – said: ‘UK plc limbered up to deliver a knockout year in dividends.’

'As we move towards 2018, the extent to which the weakening UK economy continues to diverge from improving trends elsewhere in the world will determine which companies are still able to deliver strong dividend growth.

'The uncertainty over the economy, the Brexit negotiations, and the unstable political situation are key factors to watch.'

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said UK dividends have been boosted by a recovery in the mining sector as well as weaker sterling and low interest rates.

He added: 'Dividends are a key source of returns for investors, and that’s particularly the case at the moment with cash and bonds yielding very little.

'The dividend stream from equities will ebb and flow, though they should rise over the long term as company profits rise. It’s important for income-seekers to maintain a diversified portfolio so all their dividend eggs aren’t in one basket.

Reinvesting dividends is the key to long-term investing success

There is a temptation for investors to take and spend dividends as and when they are issued, but reinvesting payments has proved to be a more lucrative strategy.

Analysis from Fidelity International found that individuals who invested £100 a month in the FTSE All Share index over the past decade and chose to take the income would have more than £3,000 less in their savings pot than those who opted to reinvest those income return instead -at £15,626 versus £18,977.

The difference over 20 years is greater at over £16,000 from £34,522 to £50,811.

This highlights how a great deal of long-term investing performance comes from dividend payouts - and reinvesting them so that gains can compound has the ability to drive the greatest returns.

Over a 30 year investment period, the benefits of reinvesting is truly realised thanks to compounding. People who invested £100 a month in the index and chose to regularly take the income over the past three decades would have a portfolio worth £71,877.

However, their portfolio would be worth almost double that - growing to £143,443- had they chosen to reinvest any dividends.